Washington, DC — Today, Congressman Troy E.
Nehls (R-TX-22) – along
with thirteen Republican lawmakers – sent a letter to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal
expressing concerns about recent decisions made by the social media platform to
suspend the account of Dr. Robert Malone, a noted vaccine researcher involved
in the development of mRNA vaccines. Dr. Malone has questioned the U.S.
Government and pharmaceutical industry’s conduct during their response to the
COVID-19 pandemic and development of vaccines.
The lawmakers asked the Twitter CEO to answer the following
questions:
1) What was the specific post violating
Twitter’s COVID-19 misleading information policy that led to the
suspension of Dr. Robert Malone’s Twitter account (@RWMaloneMD)?
2) Have Twitter’s COVID-19 misleading
information policy or its synthetic and manipulated media policy changed since
your becoming CEO? If so, would Dr. Malone’s account have been suspended under
the prior policies for the same post?
3) One of Twitter’s stated principles is
“Making it straightforward. Simple is good, but straightforward is better. Our
product, our behavior, and our work habits should all be transparent and to the
point.” Do you believe that suspending accounts without explanation complies
with your company's principle of being “straightforward” and “transparent?”
The lawmakers also stated their intent to rein in Big Tech power
and hold them accountable for arbitrary censorship practices if they obtain a
majority in the House of Representatives in 2023.
“For far too long, Big Tech companies, such as Twitter, have been
able to censor important voices without recourse available to those affected,” the lawmakers wrote. “While the 117th Congress has failed
to address the need to update and modify Federal law and regulations impacting
the internet and social media, it is highly probable that under new leadership
in 2023, Congress will spearhead an effort to hold Big Tech accountable for its
arbitrary censorship practices.”
Co-signers include Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Bill Posey (R-FL),
Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Diana Harshbarger
(R-TN), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Pat Fallon (R-TX), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Jody
Hice (R-GA), Greg Steube (R-FL), Bob Good (R-VA), and Madison Cawthorn (R-FL).
Read the full letter HERE.
**On January 3, 2022, Congressman
Nehls entered
the transcript of the Joe
Rogan Experience #1757 – Interview with Dr. Robert Malone, MD into the
Congressional Record in response to Twitter and YouTube’s move to remove the
interview from their platforms. “Today, I entered the transcript of the Joe
Rogan Experience #1757 into the Congressional Record to preserve the podcast
forever,” said Congressman
Nehls. “Big Tech may be able
to censor information on their own platforms, but they cannot censor the
Congressional Record.”
###
Frankie Granato
Press
Secretary
Congressman
Troy E. Nehls (TX-22)
1104
Longworth | 202.225.5951
